In Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde each scene features one pair of lovers; the following scene then has one of the pair but this time in a clinch with someone else. And so the baton is passed on until the last character, The Count, ends up with the first character, The Whore.

The main problem is that the result is not really a play, more a series of sketches. The formula dictates than each individual can only appear in two scenes, so you can say goodbye to any real character development. This isn't intrinsically that terrible, or at least it wouldn't be if the writing were stronger. La Ronde desperately needs some snappy one-liners, an occasional decadent Wildean paradox, perhaps even the odd wise aphorism. Instead, you get a fairly diverting collection of scenes which only occasionally come alight - and then this is more down to the acting than the text.

This production by ACT - The Academy of Creative Training - makes the best of what it has to work with. Stand outs include Cleo Felstead, as The Young Wife, who is a truly gifted comedienne (she does prim outrage as well as, if not better than, Frances de la Tour); Annie Ferguson who gives her Parlour Maid a steely hauteur making her easily more dignified than her master; and Juraj Budzovsky whose matinee-idol looks, passion and a slight dash of craziness make his Poet particularly compelling. The play's director, wisely in my opinion, decides it's vital to the plot that Mr Budzovsky strips completely naked.

Despite its flaws, La Ronde is still an eminently watchable collection of scenes focussing on a fairly diverse group of lovers. Given a better play - and perhaps a discreet pruning of some of the weaker cast members -  I think the same group could put on something quite amazing.

La Ronde plays until July 19 at The Nightingale Theatre, above Grand Central Bar, opposite Brighton Station.

For tickets visit:
www.actbrighton.org